Product instructions in the digital age

We are nowadays surrounded and sometimes overwhelmed by
exciting and fast changing products. Designers and manufacturers are very enthusiastic about inventing and
redesigning them, but many are not very keen to create
good instructions and teach users how to use the products
correctly and safely.

Many product instructions like these are not as useful as
they should be. They are not effective or inclusive enough
and sometimes are out of reach. This research recognised
the problems with product instructions and aimed at finding
solutions to enhance their performance, especially in this
digital age. Related literature was reviewed, questionnaires
were sent out to gather opinions and experiments were
carried out to look for solutions.

A product was chosen according to criteria related to experimental requirements. The instructions which accompanied the product were very poorly designed. These
instructions were re-­‐designed in a traditional printed
format and then an interactive multimedia format. These
formats were tested using a group of Digital Natives
(those who have grown up with digital devices) and a group
of Digital immigrants (those who learnt to use digital devices as an adult). Conclusions are drawn in the end and
recommendations are given for instruction planners.